


Severus Snape's Main Chance

by Leela



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Humour, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-05
Updated: 2011-12-05
Packaged: 2017-10-26 22:30:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/288599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leela/pseuds/Leela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Severus tells the story of how he asked Harry to marry him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Severus Snape's Main Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [iulia_linnea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/iulia_linnea/gifts).



> Written in 2009.
> 
>  **Beta** : Minxie and batdina
> 
>  **A/N** : A birthday story (only a few days late) for iulia_linnea, who requested Snarry, prompt: awkward proposal of marriage?

I have always kept an eye out for what my father called 'the main chance'. That habit has served me well over the years and, I'm convinced, was one of the reasons (if not _the_ reason) that I survived Nagini's bite. Well, that and one of Poppy's godforsaken monitoring charms, which I insisted she forget to lift after my previous infirmary stay.

Anyway, I'm digressing. My survival is only tangentially related to the entire point of the story you're interested in: how your father and I ended up together.

It was a dark and stormy night...

 _What_? Cliché or not, that's exactly how it was. The abysmal weather and the annoying leak in my roof -- which refused to be magically fixed, mind you -- were the only reasons I ended up going to the Weasleys' new year's party that year. Well, that and Molly's habit of overfeeding everything that lived and breathed in the vicinity of the Burrow. My cupboard had proved to be a little bare over the holidays.

Now, where were we before you so rudely interrupted? Ah, yes, the Weasley party.

Your father attended alone, as he usually did in those years. He'd gone out with many people, both male and female -- yes, yes, including myself once or thrice. However, despite the way he whinged on whenever he barged into my shop for elevenses or afternoon tea break, he didn't seem that interested in settling on just one person. Still, that didn't stop me from tucking the little velvet box into the pocket of the robes I wore to the party. Carrying it around had become a habit, you see. I rarely went anywhere without it, just in case.

Does it really matter what it was in case of? Fine, I will grant you that it was in case of precisely what happened that night. My 'main chance' as it were.

Most of the party was decidedly yawn-inducing. Few of your generation had been born yet, so there was little to distract the adults from gossiping and ridiculous attempts to pretend that no one knew why they were disappearing into the--

Well, no reason to get into that tonight. It's merely tangential to the story I'm trying to tell.

I had just finished a rather fascinating discussion with Horace Slughorn about exactly why he should not attempt to improve the taste of certain potions -- a sweetener has yet to be developed that doesn't interact badly with the active ingredients -- when I decided it was time to go outside. As I was wandering around and checking the efficacy of your grandfather's weather wards, I happened upon your father and his usual post-war cadre sitting in the garden. What caught my attention on that night was the way Ginevra Weasley--

Yes, I'm referring to your godmother. Yes, the same Aunt Ginny who's married to your Aunt Millicent. Aunt Mills, then; although why she insists on that ridiculous shortening of her name is beyond me.

 _Anyway_ , your Aunt Ginny was attempting to kneel in front of your father in that time-honoured tradition. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it turned out), she had indulged just a trifle too freely in the doctored punch, which any halfway intelligent person attending a Weasley party avoids in favour of something in an unopened, and personally wand-tested, bottle. After she toppled over on her arse for the second--

I did say, _arse_ and if you snitch on me to your father... very well, then, we have an agreement. Please permit me to continue, or I shall simply turn out the light and leave. It is, after all, well past your bedtime.

On the fourth attempt, with the wobbly assistance of your Aunt Mills and your Uncle Ron, she was able to remain upright long enough to begin mumbling and muttering some banal declaration of love and eternal gratitude. As if his saving her life when she was a gullible first year had any bearing on their relationship ten years later.

No, that time wasn't your Aunt Ginny. Her brief moment in the limelight occurred when your father was in second year... the basilisk, that's right. If you insist, I'll make sure your father tells you that story another night.

Her attempt at proposing was one of the most long-winded and awkward bouts of verbal diarrhoea I've ever had the misfortune to overhear. The silly chit didn't even have a ring. Everyone was laughing at her, and no one seemed interested in helping her. Not even your Aunt Hermione.

After a few minutes of this, when I simply could not stand watching her humiliate herself any longer, I decided it was incumbent upon me to intervene. It was terrible enough that your father might have accepted her hand in marriage just to put the rest of us out of her misery. So, I swept in.

Of course, I had the velvet box in hand. Unlike your Aunt Ginny, I had taken the time to research the appropriate forms before putting myself forward.

She was so surprised to see me that she tumbled over, right into your Aunt Mills' arms, leaving the space in front of your father empty. So, I dropped into the appropriate position, balanced upon one knee -- rather elegantly, if I do say so myself -- and flipped open the box. Holding it with the ring facing towards your father, I asked for his hand in marriage.

What did he say? Of course, he said yes. You're both here, aren't you? It's not as if they allow unmarried wizards to adopt.

And? What do you mean, and?

 _Fine_! And they all lived happily ever after. Satisfied now?

~fin~


End file.
